That’s how internet trolling works. You post something that is clearly bait, knowing that certain techniques (like starting with “serious topic”) are likely to deceive a certain percentage of people into taking them seriously and wasting their time.
I think moderators think that what seems like trolls starting and bumping pointless flamebait threads will eventually bring us around and change our minds on certain topics.
We do see plenty of threads where trolls post the idea that “People are sheep and aren’t actually capable of having opinions on their own. What they believe is what they were told to believe. Here, let me tell you what to think, because I’m special. I have special knowledge.”